Hidden Homelessness, A Study By Sheffield Hallam University For Crisis

Our text illustrates that there are various populations within the homeless community. These people are homeless for different reasons, whether its voluntary or involuntarily. Runaways and Victims of

“One diverse population that has continued to increase over the quarter of a century is composed of people who are homeless” (Baggerly & Zalaquett, 2006, p.155). Homelessness has become a growing problem in society because more and more people are finding themselves to be homeless and not knowing where to turn. Many people do not

Due to the relative nature of culture and language, the definition of homelessness varies across the world. What is a common thread among nearly all definitions is the difficulty in locating and retaining permanent residence and integration into normative society. (Elliott & Krivo, 1991, 114) Some of the stereotypes about the behavior of homeless people are true.

Many people still think of homeless transients as alcoholics and/or mentally disabled. The truth is, the current homeless population consists of runaway adolescents, single adult males or females, battered women and over one million homeless families with children – typically headed by a female parent.

Homelessness has been a consistent concern since the colonization of the United States and the separation from England. However, despite the desire for new beginnings once arriving in the States, old circumstances remained and an adoption of previous solutions was implemented. The term used for those homeless has transitioned throughout the decades; however, the beginning expression used was vagrants (Levinson & Ross, 2007). This term was given due to the connotation of being “…wanderers without a home, but also likely to participate in criminal activity” (Levinson & Ross, p. 1, 2007). Though this terminology is not as prevalent today, the negative association between homelessness and crime still exists.

“Most homeless people who are forced into shelters or prisons, they contend, wind up wandering the streets as soon as they are released, creating a "revolving door" effect” (“Homelessness”). If a homeless person is arrested for breaking the law and sent to jail or prison, they will most likely end up back on the streets where they came from. “When a homeless person is arrested under one of these laws, he or she develops a criminal record, making it more difficult to obtain employment or housing” (National). Criminalization of homelessness will prevent a homeless person from finding a house or job because it is giving them a bad reputation. “It costs more to incarcerate someone than it does to provide supportive housing” (National).This quote connects to the idea of criminal records because it shows that you would have to pay more for someone to be deemed a criminal and taken away rather than to provide them with a house or let them stay on the

A homeless person is an individual without a permanent, stable housing situation who either spends his or her nights on the streets or in temporary facilities, such as shelters and abandoned buildings. Throughout history, society has been “holding the poor, rape or incest victims, minorities, or the handicapped responsible for their misfortunes” (Zur). Society has been blaming the homeless for being in the position they are in. However, upon closer inspection, it must be noted that “children under the age of 18 accounts for 39% of the homeless population…battered women who live in poverty are often forced to choose between abusive relationships and homelessness…[and] 40% of homeless men have served in the armed forces” (Who Is Homeless?). It is clear that those who are homeless are not

There are many things that have to be taken into consideration for homeless people in general. A couple of those would be that homeless people can have severe health problems or human waste that is not contained. These health problems can vary from cardio-respiratory diseases, tuberculosis, skin diseases, nutritional deficiencies to the spread of HIV/AIDS (“homelessness,” n.d.). There are even statistics that show homeless people are more likely to commit a crime. This will put added stress on our already overcrowded prison

Often times the homeless people were sent to jail for possession, public urination and/or intoxication, or sleeping outside (B S, 112-113). Society has criminalized those who needed to be treated and while they’re in jail they experience withdrawal symptoms. Once they’re released, many of them do not have anywhere or any jobs to go. Relapsing is a high probability because some do not have a social network or support to help them. In the 1990s and 2000s the only form of post aid was the Narcotics

Resettlement has been an important element in prison life throughout England and Wales for many years. It is when “prisoners and their families receive assistance and support from the prison and probation services and voluntary agencies to help them prepare for life after prison” (Justice, 2002). The objective is to hopefully lead prisoners towards recidivism, which will hopefully return ex-offenders to normal life, employment and housing. Criminological and social research done by Social Exclusion Unit (SEU) identified the following factors to be what influenced reoffending. These are; education, employment, drug and alcohol misuse, mental and physical health, housing, financial support, debt and family networks. The aim of this essay is to discuss the impact that resettlement has in imprisonment today by looking at the factors within prison life and also looking at the effects that resettlement has on the prisoners.

The first assumption is that people whom are homeless are at an increased risk for incarceration, and secondly, release from jail or prison leaves a person particulary vulnerable to an episode of homelessness. Much of the research on homelessness and incarceration is still in the works of documentation. This includes the rates at which people cross over from one to the other, and includes such factors and general explanations of why such a high degree of crossover between the two exists. This paper will review the range of housing approaches, featuring specific housing programs within the communit, and what is considered to be the best

The Guardian (2013) states that homelessness has increased for three straight years, partly because of a housing shortage and multiple cuts to benefits, with roughly 185,000 people a year now affected in England. Almost two out of twenty people will experience homelessness at some point in their life, with one in fifty people having experienced homelessness in the last several years (The Guardian 2013). Although there is almost an estimated half a million people

Incarceration of the homeless is mainly due to petty, non-violent crimes which enable them to subsist. It is estimated that “thirty-three percent of the reported convictions for the homeless incarcerated were due to homeless-related offenses” (Covin, 2012). Of those thirty-three percent convicted for homeless-related crimes, seventy-nine percent of the committed offenses were non-violent in nature (Covin, 2012). There are estimates that up to fifty percent of homeless adults have had a stint of incarceration (Tsai, Rosenheck,

The Problems and causes of homelessness are closely intertwined, with many of the problems of homelessness also sharing common source with the causes of homelessness. Narrative comments are included. There are three central themes that are highlighted in the cases. Mental health plays a large role in the cause and problem of homelessness as displayed by Stephanie’s experience as “her parents asked her to leave home. Stephanie had suffered from anxieties and bipolar”. Abusive relationships are also experienced frequently amongst the participants illustrated by Lauren and her children as it is noted “her husband was manipulative and abusive to her and the children”. Exposure to drugs is another theme of homelessness demonstrated by Elle’s

It is important to address the issues and limitations that may be present in this report. Recent and reliable reports on the homeless is severely lacking, likely as a result of the sensitivity of the issue. Similarly, the Sydney CBD is an extremely specific area and much of the information collected is not specific to this area. Much of the information collected were extrapolated from data that covered a larger area. As such, it is important to recognise that due to the nature of the data collected, the information presented may be inaccurate or biased.